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Oberliga
The Oberliga (Plural: Oberligen) ( ) is currently the name of the fifth tier of the German football (soccer) leagues. Before the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008, it was the fourth tier. The word Oberliga is equivalent to Premier League in English, however, its literal translation would be Upper League. The term Oberliga was also used prior to the establishment of the Gauliga system in 1933 and again between the end of World War II and the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963 for first division leagues in Germany. Between 1978-94 the term Amateuroberliga was used for third tier leagues, which were then the highest level of amateur play in the country. The current usage of the designation Oberliga was introduced in 1994. In East Germany a separate league structure was in place from 1948-1990 and the top flight division there was known as the DDR-Oberliga. Pre-Bundesliga Oberligen From the end of the 2nd World War until the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963 there were five regional Oberligen: *Oberliga Berlin *Oberliga Nord *Oberliga West *Oberliga Südwest *Oberliga Süd Based on criteria outlined by the German association in October 1982 an evaluation system covering the last 12 seasons was established through which the sixteen clubs from these five leagues were established which were to form the new nationwide first division Bundesliga, with the others going to the new second tier Regionalligen.Zwölfjahreswertung - article in the German Wikipedia covering the details for the selection of the initial members of the Bundesliga Overview Oberliga champions are usually promoted to Regionalliga which is directly below the 3rd Liga. The Oberliga Nordost has two divisions ("Süd" and "Nord"). If the champion of an Oberliga is the B-team of a club which already has a team in the Regionalliga, or which has a team which will be relegated to the Regionalliga, the B-team cannot be promoted, and the next highest qualified team will be promoted instead. There are eleven "Oberligen", based on states and regions of Germany. Promotion from the Oberligas to the 2nd Bundesliga From 1974 to 1994, the Oberligas, originally called 1st Amateurliga, were set right below the two 2nd Bundesligas, North and South. Originally there was 15 Amateurligas which were reduced to 8 Oberligas in 1978. From 1981 the 2nd Bundesliga was reduced to one single league. Because there always were more Oberliga champions then promtion spots, these clubs had to determind the promoted teams by the way of a promotion play-off to the 2nd Bundesliga, called "Aufstiegsrunde zur 2.Bundesliga". Short history of the Oberligas The Oberliga Baden-Württemberg was formed in 1978 to provide a single-division 3rd tier league for the state of Baden-Württemberg. Previously, the clubs in the state had played in four separate Amateurligas; Nordwürttemberg, Schwarzwald-Bodensee, Nordbaden and Südbaden. Two of those were merged, the Amateurligas Nordwürttemberg and Schwarzwald-Bodensee to form the Verbandliga Württemberg. ;Feeder Leagues to the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg * Verbandsliga Nordbaden * Verbandsliga Südbaden * Verbandsliga Württemberg The Fußball-Bayernliga was formed in 1945. In 1946/47, 1947/48 and from 1953/54 till 1962/63 it was split in a northern and a southern division. Since then it has played in the single division format. The league is also commonly referred to as the Bayernliga. ;Feeder Leagues to the Bayernliga * Landesliga Bayern-Nord * Landesliga Bayern-Mitte * Landesliga Bayern-Süd The Hessenliga was formed in 1945. In its first two seasons, 1945/46 and 1946/47 it played in two separate divisions, east and west. Since then it has been a single league and is the oldest Oberliga to operate continuously in this format. ;Feeder Leagues to the Hessenliga * Landesliga Hessen-Nord * Landesliga Hessen-Mitte * Landesliga Hessen-Süd The Oberliga Südwest was formed in 1978 to provide a single-division 3rd tier league for the two states Saarland and Rheinland-Pfalz. Previously, the clubs that make up this Oberliga played in three separate leagues; the Amateurligas Südwest, Saarland, and Rheinland. ;Feeder Leagues to the Oberliga Südwest * Verbandsliga Südwest * Verbandsliga Saarland * Verbandsliga Rheinland The NOFV-Oberliga Nord was established in 1991 after the German reunification. It covers the northern part of former East Germany and the city of Berlin. In 1994 the NOFV-Oberliga Mitte ceased and its clubs were split between the other two NOFV-Oberligas. ;Feeder Leagues to the NOFV-Oberliga Nord * Berlin-Liga * Brandenburg-Liga * Verbandsliga Mecklenburg-Vorpommern The NOFV-Oberliga Süd was established in 1991 after the reunification of the two German states. It covers the southern part of former East Germany. In 1994 the NOFV-Oberliga Mitte ceased and its clubs were split between the other two NOFV-Oberligas. ;Feeder Leagues to the NOFV-Oberliga Süd * Landesliga Sachsen * Verbandsliga Sachsen-Anhalt * Landesliga Thüringen New Oberligas since the 2008-09 season The NRW-Liga started operating from 2008 as the highest level of play in the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen. It is a merger of the Oberligas Nordrhein and Westfalen. ;Feeder leagues to the NRW-Liga * Verbandsliga Niederrhein * Verbandsliga Mittelrhein * Verbandsliga Westfalen 1 * Verbandsliga Westfalen 2 Due to the Oberliga Nord being dissolved in 2008, the former Verbandsligas below it archived Oberliga status from the 2008-09 season and some have actually officially adopted the name: The Oberliga Hamburg ;Feeder leagues to the Oberliga Hamburg * Landesliga Hamburg-Hammonia * Landesliga Hamburg-Hansa The Bremen-Liga ;Feeder league to the Bremen-Liga * Landesliga Bremen The Schleswig-Holstein-Liga ;Feeder leagues to the Schleswig-Holstein-Liga * Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Nord-West * Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Nord-Ost * Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Süd-West * Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Süd-Ost The Niedersachsenliga ;Feeder leagues to the Niedersachsenliga * Bezirksoberliga Hannover * Bezirksoberliga Weser-Ems * Bezirksoberliga Braunschweig * Bezirksoberliga Lüneburg Defunct Oberligas The Amateur-Oberliga Berlin was established in 1974 to accommodate the majority of clubs of the Regionalliga Berlin when this league ceased to exist. With the German reunion in 1991 the Oberliga Berlin ceased to exist and its clubs were spread between the NOFV-Oberligas Nord and Mitte. The highest level of league play in Berlin is now the Verbandsliga Berlin. The NOFV-Oberliga Mitte existed from the German reunion in 1991 till its dissolution in 1994. Its clubs were moved to the NOFV Oberligas Nord and Süd. The Oberliga Niedersachsen/Bremen existed from 1994 till 2004 as a replacement for the Oberliga Nord. With the reestablishment of the Oberliga Nord, the Oberliga Niedersachsen/Bremen ceased to exist. The Oberliga Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein existed from 1994 till 2004 as a replacement for the Oberliga Nord. With the reestablishment of the Oberliga Nord, the Oberliga Schleswig-Holstein/Hamburg ceased to exist. The Oberliga Nordrhein was formed in 1978 as a merger of the Amateurligas Niederrhein and Mittelrhein. It was replaced by the Oberliga Nordrhein-Westfalen, which is a merger of the Oberligas Nordrhein and Westfalen. The Oberliga Westfalen was formed in 1945. Until 1978 it was split into two separate groups, but has since operated as a single division. It wasreplaced by the Oberliga Nordrhein-Westfalen, which is a merger of the Oberligas Nordrhein and Westfalen. The Oberliga Nord was formed in 1974 to form a highest playing level for the states of Niedersachsen, Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and Bremen. As such it was a continuation of the old Regionalliga Nord which was superseded by the 2nd Bundesliga Nord in 1974. It stopped operating in 1994 when the Regionalliga Nord was reformed, now as the third tier of the German football league system. It was replaced by the Oberligas Schleswig-Holstein/Hamburg and Niedersachsen/Bremen. In 2004 the Oberliga Nord re-established to replace these two leagues. To add to the confusion, the Oberliga Nord again ceased to exist after the 2007/08 season with the establishment of the 3rd Liga and the introduction of a third Regionalliga (IV). Oberliga Timeline Source: References Sources * Die Bayernliga 1945 - 1997, published by the DSFS, 1998 * Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen, An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga, publisher: DSFS * Kicker Almanach, The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine * Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897-1988 History of Southern German football in tables, publisher & author: Ludolf Hyll * Die Deutsche Liga-Chronik 1945-2005 History of German football from 1945 to 2005 in tables, publisher: DSFS, published: 2006 External links * Das deutsche Fussball Archiv Historic German league tables * Weltfussball.de Round-by-round results and tables of the Oberligas from 1994 onwards 5 Category:Oberliga af:Oberliga da:Oberliga de:Fußball-Oberliga es:Oberliga fr:Oberliga (football allemand) ko:오베르리가 it:Oberliga nl:Oberliga no:Oberliga pl:Oberliga niemiecka w piłce nożnej ru:Оберлига Германии по футболу fi:Oberliga (jalkapallo) uk:Оберліга Німеччини з футболу